MSI A78M-E35
MSI's A78M-E35 is the smaller of our two A78 boards, measuring 8.9x8.5 inches. Though both samples are microATX-sized, MSI's offering is geared more toward smaller enclosures and entry-level builds. With its reduced size, I have access to only two DDR3 DIMM slots, and the bottom of the board does get cramped if you have a PCI card installed. There is only one available four-pin ATX12V CPU connector, so make sure your power supply has a four-pin lead or that it can split its eight-pin connector.
The board offers two four-pin PWM fan connectors (one system fan and one CPU fan); they're are located right where you would need them. For those of us with legacy peripherals, two PS/2 ports are available. There are enough USB ports available on the back panel and through headers to satiate mainstream users, though higher-end chipsets enable more.
MSI's UEFI definitely has more of a GUI-like feel than I am used to, and the home screen isn't as intuitive as I would have liked. Working through some of the pages, I noticed that the option selections were not consistent. Some of them required clicking for a list of settings, others demanded that you press + or - to increment up or down and some wanted you to key a number in specifically. Finally, since this is an entry-level board, there is no access to voltage biasing through the BIOS. If you intend to use OC Genie, MSI's one-button overclock, the software tool only supports 65W APUs with this chipset.
Looking at the board's packaging, "Military Class, "Top Quality" and "Stability" are the most readily apparent phrases. For less than $60 (at the time of this writing), that seems like a lot of marketing for such a low price tag. MSI has been a solid contender in the past, so I look forward to seeing the results.